


Sneaking Around With You

by Fumm95



Series: Morning Glory (Jace Malcom & Satele Shan) [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Great Galactic War, OC: Lieutenant Shi, OC: Neros, Sneaking Around, post Battle of Alderaan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 03:30:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6178576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fumm95/pseuds/Fumm95
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternatively titled: “Lieutenant Shi has had enough of your shit you guys aren’t even subtle jfc.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sneaking Around With You

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by the song of the same name.
> 
> Some last bits of fluff before we get to the more serious part of their relationship (or... lack of one, as it were).

The note gets slipped into his hand so smoothly that he’s half-convinced Satele must have taken advantage of the Force as she weaves her way through the crowd, hardly sparing him a second look.

While Lieutenant Shi pauses to read from her pad, Jace gives it a glance, oddly scribbled on flimsy instead of sent to his mail, before returning to his conversation with his second-in-command. To his relief, her expression hasn’t changed as she continues to rattle off the current troop deployment around the remains of House Panteer.

Waiting until he has a moment of privacy should not be agonizing but he finds himself cursing each point and interruption that his men bring up until Shi finally waves him off, telling him that she can coordinate the rest with his other officers.

He has to be imagining the smirk on her face as he hurries back to his tent.

* * *

Her handwriting is small but elegant, looping across the page in a way that is instantly recognizable, and he grins as he checks his chrono before setting out to the provided coordinates.

Even with his haste, she is already waiting by the lake, gazing out over the peaceful hills. As he draws near, he pauses to admire the view she makes, surrounded by light and the gentle breeze tugging at the strands of hair escaping her braids, before joining her.

Satele turns to him when he stops a safe distance away, eyes alight with mischief and something else, something gentler. “I gave you so much time and you’re still late.”

He offers her an apologetic smile. “It seems like the more I want to be somewhere else, the more problems come up with the troops.”

She laughs outright at that. “You could have said that the Jedi General wanted to discuss something important with you.”

“I’ll have to use that next time.” He freezes as the words slip out without thinking, wondering whether he is being far too presumptuous, but she only laughs again, the sound light, clear, in the crisp air, and then she is kissing him and nothing else matters.

* * *

Her suggestion, unsurprisingly, turns out to be extremely successful and his men scatter in record time when he tries it, though he can’t help but shake the fact that Lieutenant Shi is more satisfied than she has any reason to be.

Satele smirks in triumph when he tells her.

* * *

Of all of the things Satele expects, Lieutenant Shi showing up in the middle of her sparring section with her second was not one of them and the distraction is enough to give Neros an opening that she is too preoccupied to notice.

Disarmed in short order, she accepts Neros’ offered hand, shaking her head ruefully as he pulls her to her feet. He grins as he salutes her, the only outward sign of smugness he shows and she waves him off before turning to the woman waiting patiently at the side of the training ring.

“Hello, Lieutenant.”

Dark eyes focus on her. “That was impressive, Master Jedi.”

She laughs, shrugging. “For Neros, perhaps. I admit my mind was elsewhere.”

“Nonetheless, still impressive. Perhaps a demonstration on how to fight Force users could be beneficial at some point over the next few days.”

Satele considers it for a minute. “I see how that could be useful. I’ll be sure to talk to Ja- Captain Malcom about it.”

Shi nods briskly, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips as she turns back to her pad and makes a note. “Oh, speaking of which, Captain Malcom wishes to speak with you regarding the troops stationed by House Rist.”

“Understood. Please let him know I’ll be over once I freshen up.”

She thinks she hears a quiet “I doubt he’d mind,” but by the time she looks back, the lieutenant has already melted back into the crowd.

* * *

“Is it just me or has the captain been in a much better mood recently?”

Lieutenant Shi muffles a groan as she sits down with the rest of her unit. It has been only a week since Master Shan asked her to find her commanding officer, after which his previous sour mood completely vanished, and she isn’t sure if she’s ready for this conversation yet.

Then again, considering the number of messages she’s passed back and forth since, with increasingly convoluted excuses, it’s a wonder that nobody else has suspected anything yet.

Still, that doesn’t mean she’s looking forward to listening to the progressively more ludicrous suggestions that the rest of the men are providing, ranging from one of the Jedi - quite possibly the closest anyone has been - to _Colonel Garza_.

As she walks away from the table, carrying her half-eaten bowl of stew, she resists the urge to scream when she hears someone listing _her_ as the “lucky woman.”

Barely.

* * *

He has never realized before just how _dull_ supply logistics are. Which isn’t to mean that they’re not important, or even that he doesn’t have a head for the calculations, but they’re long and tedious and as the minutes pass, it becomes more and more difficult to pay attention to whatever the quartermaster and Lieutenant Shi are discussing in excruciating detail.

On the other side of the camp, some of the Jedi are returning from a scouting run and he watches idly as they march towards the command tent, noting with some amusement how a good number of them must tower over their general, despite the power that she always radiates.

A glance to Shi reveals that they’re _still_ talking about the availability of replacement armor and he interjects a few comments before chancing another look towards the Jedi.

They are flocked around Satele, who stands a head shorter than most of them, and he cannot help but stare at the way the sunlight makes her glow golden, shining against dark hair that is unusually left unbound. He can picture the smile on her face when she turns to face him and he swallows, his chest warming.

“Captain!”

Shi’s sharp tone is almost enough to make him jump. Judging from the exasperation in her eyes, it is not the first time she has tried to catch his attention and he offers her an apologetic look.

“Sir, if you’re trying to be discreet, I would suggest not being quite so obvious with your regard?”

Her tone is quiet but his heart still skips a beat. “I have no idea what you’re referring to, lieutenant.”

Jace is fairly certain he has never seen such a smug look before. “Certainly, not, captain. Just like how you’ve never had to clean lip paint off after leaving Master Shan’s tent. Incidentally, sir, you may want to return her handkerchiefs to her yourself.”

When he tells Satele that night, she laughs so hard, he worries she’s going to wake the entire camp.


End file.
